A large swathe of the UK is to be hit by an Arctic blast, bringing strong winds, snow and ice in a chilly end to the month.

The Met Office issued five weather warnings for the last weekend of January, saying there was a chance of power cuts and travel disruption.

“Very strong northerly winds” were expected to affect the east coast of England and southern Scotland and the west coast of England, Northern Ireland and Wales on Saturday.

Gusts of 50-55mph were expected to develop overnight across Northern Ireland and move across Wales and parts of western England before easing on Sunday.

Large waves and slightly stronger gusts were expected to hit the east coast from 8am on Sunday until the evening.

The Met Office said delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport were likely and there could be power cuts.

The forecaster Luke Miall said the weekend would be one of “two halves”, with Sunday feeling noticeably colder than Saturday.

“We will see quite a blast of strong, northerly winds coming down from the Arctic,” he said. “It’s going to be very windy but it’s also going to turn much colder.

“That northerly wind is just going to cut straight through, so its real temperature on the thermometer will probably say 4-7C, but when you add on the wind it’s going to feel sub-zero.”

In northern Scotland, heavy rain was expected to turn to snow by about 6pm on Saturday, with higher ground accumulating up to 10-15cm (4-6in) as well as experiencing possible blizzards. It was forecast to last until midday on Sunday.

A warning was also in place for north-east England, where there may be some icy stretches between 1am and 11am on Sunday.